John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

In future decades, an analysis will be done of the boom and people will be asked how they managed events. Some time ago, the Government indicated that the property market was overheating and the issue would have to be addressed. The Oireachtas discussed steps that would be taken to manage the downturn in property and construction related industries. At the time, we anticipated job losses of 70,000 but we expected many foreign workers would return home to meet increasing demand in the construction industry in countries such as Poland. A soft landing was widely expected but at that point we were hit by the international crisis.

The Government will be asked what was our best day and what action we took to ensure the economy remained solid. Our tax wedge was the lowest in the OECD, we invested in the National Pensions Reserve Fund and our national debt was low. Our best day, however, was the day we prevented the Opposition from removing stamp duty. Opposition parties and the media told us we should have been doing X, Y or Z at that time. They consistently called on the Government to abolish stamp duty and offer more candy to the children at a point when such a measure was unsupportable. They tell us what we should or should not do even though the action they proposed at the time would have fuelled the fire.